The present invention relates generally to the field electronic publishing and more specifically to method of publishing the requirements of a buyer.
Electronic publishing is typically accomplished by posting information on the Internet. Posting information traditionally includes the use of webpages or electronic bulletin boards. The Internet and most intranets are based on the concept of a client-server relationship between computers, also called a client/server architecture. To access information on the Internet or an intranet, a user must first log on, or connect, to the client computer's host network. This connection can be established with or without user intervention depending on the software. Once a connection has been established, the user may request information from or send information to a remote server. If the information requested by the user resides on one of the computers on the host network, that information is quickly retrieved and sent to the user's terminal. If the information requested by the user is on a server that does not belong to the host Local Area Network (LAN), then the host network connects to other networks until it makes a connection with the network containing the requested server. During their travels across the Internet, requests and responses will likely encounter one or more gateways and routers. Gateways are located between computer networks and enable a network operating according to one protocol to pass messages to a second network working to a different protocol. A router is a device that determines the best connection path between networks and helps networks to make connections. Once the client computer makes a connection with the server containing the requested information, the server sends the information to the client in the form of a file. A special computer program called a browser enables the user to view the file. Examples of Internet browsers are Mosaic, Netscape, and Internet Explorer. Non-multimedia documents do not need browsers to view their text-only contents and many multimedia documents provide access to text-only versions of their files. The process of retrieving files from a remote server to the user's terminal is called downloading. The process sending files to a remote server from a user's terminal is called uploading.
Webpages and electronic bulletin boards are usually stored on special computers known as servers, which are commonly accessed via the Internet. The Internet is an association of computer networks with common standards, which enable information to be sent from any host on one network to any host on another network. Originally developed in the 1970's to support military research, it has since grown and expanded to support commercial, educational, and other users. The World Wide Web is an Internet facility designed for multimedia use, in which individuals or organizations make available ‘pages’ of information to other users anywhere in the world. Access to these pages can be at no cost or, in the case of certain commercial operations, a fee can be required before access is granted.
The Internet provides many services to its users. E-mail is probably the most popular service. E-mail can be a simple text message that is typed at the user's keyboard, which is then sent to another user on the network. In the same way that a letter must be addressed correctly to reach its destination, an e-mail message must also specify the address of the person it is being sent to. The biggest advantage of using e-mail is that it reaches its destination much faster than traditional mail, usually in a matter of a few seconds. File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is known for easy downloading of public domain software and shareware programs. Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) are an electronic version of traditional bulletin boards found in public areas. Bulletin boards originated to provide users who have similar interests with a method of keeping in touch and sharing information. A BBS user “posts” messages or files about all kinds of subjects, and anyone who can access the BBS can view and respond to the messages.
Multimedia documents found on the World Wide Web are called Web pages. Linking information together with hyperlinks is accomplished by special computer programs or computer languages. Computer languages used to create Web pages include HyperText Markup Language (HTML) and JAVA. A multimedia device should have a keyboard and a pointing device, such as a mouse or pen, so that the user can direct the associations between multimedia elements. Photographs, drawings, and other still images must be changed into a format that the computer can manipulate and display. Such formats include bit-mapped graphics and vector graphics. Bit-mapped graphics store, manipulate, and represent images as rows and columns of tiny dots. In a bit-mapped graphic, each dot has a precise location described by its row and column, much like each house in a city has a precise address. Some of the most common bit-mapped graphics formats are called Graphical Interchange Format (GIF), Tagged Image File Format (TIFF), and Windows Bitmap (BMP). Vector graphics use mathematical formulas to recreate the original image. In a vector graphic, the dots are not defined by a row-and-column address, rather they are defined by their spatial relationships to one another. Because their dot components are not restricted to a particular row and column, vector graphics can reproduce images more easily and thus provide better output on most video screens and printers. Common vector graphics formats are Encapsulated Postscript (EPS), Windows Metafile Format (WMF), Hewlett-Packard Graphics Language (HPGL), and Macintosh graphics file format (PICT).